by bailewen on Mon Nov 01, 2010 5:05 pm
edit:
I take back my previous post. The film didn't go where I was thinking it would.
The opening read like a right wing rant calling for more industry de-regulation and thumping the "fear" drum over imaginary terrorist threats.
Technically it is calling for deregulation but not in the way I thought it was going and rather than using the 9-11 thing to scare folks into giving up even more liberties, as is usually the play, it actually did go after 4th amendment attacks in recent years. The 4th is my new favorite amendment and is the one that has already been completely removed. It's still there on paper but is no longer recognized by our judicial system. If the 4th was still in action then all the gun nuts could rest easy over their 2nd. Nobody's going to be able to take your guns away without the ability to storm your home without grounds.
I love the 1st too but it's been distorted to include corporations which are so clearly not people. Although that argument is already now part of precedent a new problem with corporate constitutional protections has arisen. Do US constitutional protections apply to foreigners? Are foreign nationals entitled to free speech rights protecting their right to purchase campaign advertising or otherwise use money to influence US policy? Aren't most large corporations multinational? The new supreme court ruling opens the door to even British or, heck even Chinese interests to buy elections. Since, under the new ruling, there is no transparency required for corporate campaign contributions, there is nothing stopping a Chinese interest from spending money on a US election in the interest of international trade regulation that is in its favor. They certainly have the money. They just need to buy the stock. Many Japanese interests are already in place for stuff like that. Sony-Pepsi comes to mind. How about Lenovo (a Chinese concern) which now owns Thinkpad (an American brand). Hoover is now Chinese owned too.
Is KFC, Pepsi, Pizza Hut etc. banned from contributing to campaigns on account of their Japanese part ownership?
What about auto manufacturers that are partly European owned?
Now we are extending free speech to foreign nationals. sheesh.
Last edited by
bailewen on Mon Nov 01, 2010 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.